Algeria FM: 'Granting Israel observer status at AU a double mistake'

Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra has denounced an African Union (AU) decision to grant Israel observer status as a "double mistake", Anadolu Agency reported on Saturday.

"We were not the ones who initiated the granting of observer status to anyone," Lamamra shared in an interview with Radio France Internationale and France 24 conducted in Addis Ababa.

Lamamra travelled to the Ethiopian capital to participate in the 35th AU summit, which is to open on Saturday.

"There is a double mistake with this case," he stressed.

"The first mistake was to grant observer status [to Israel] without conducting consultations with the AU member states, including Algeria," Lamamra asserted, adding that the decision "was bad and should not have been taken."

He noted: "If prior consultations had taken place, the decision would not have been taken, without a doubt."

The second mistake, according to Lamamra: "Was that there was a division among the member states on this issue, and this was left without any attempt to correct it. This is bad for the organisation and may jeopardise the solidarity that must exist among the member states."

During the two-day AU summit, several AU countries are expected to demand to revoke Israel's observer status in the pan-African body.

On 22 July, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that its ambassador to Ethiopia, Admasu Al-Ali, had submitted his credentials as an observer member to the AU.

Later, Arab media reported that seven Arab countries had informed the AU of their objection to granting Israel observer status in the continental organisation, a position endorsed by the League of Arab States.